The next big battle
by Danceronpointe
Summary: Set after the end of The Final Warning. the flock goes on some new adventures, but now, fang has a voice- lots of Fax
1. Voice

hey, this is my first fan fic

**hey, this is my first fan fic. please R & R. no flames plz. I don't own Max ride.**

Chapter 1

I looked over at my flock, they were all safe and sleeping. I yawned and turned to watch another hawk soar out in the clear blue sky.

The desert was dry and bare but, nothing compared to the endless white of Antarctica. It was also much warmer. I mean, people here think 32 Fahrenheit is cold. Have they ever been in 32 below? Uh, No!

Anyway, did I mention that I really hated the cold, and the snow, and the whiteness. If I didn't, you probably guessed it.

So, now we were in a cave near Lake Mead, where we had stayed with the hawks. The Voice had told us to come here. Recently, the Voice had revealed that it was, in fact, not Jeb Batchelder, my father. I mean, talk about mixed signals.

Now, I had first watch, while the rest of the flock slept. I glanced over at my flock, Iggy, who was blind. Nudge, mouth moving, even in her sleep. Gazzy, boy, did I hope that he could control that stink bomb of his. Angel, in her favorite form, bird girl, now she could even sleep as bird girl. Total, tiny wings showing, he could fly a few feet now. Akila, a malamute, who Total was totally in love with. And Fang.

Fang I actually couldn't see. He was so still when he slept that he blended into the dark rock of the cave. Fang used to be my best friend, my right hand man, the only one who understood me. But, now, things weren't so great between us. Sure, he was still my best friend and could read me better than anyone, but… Back in Washington, D.C., Fang had kissed me, again. And, I had just ran away. And I felt jealous whenever he talked to Brigid Dwyer, a scientist in Antarctica. I really needed some time to think about Fang and me- together.

"Max?" little Angel opened sleepy eyes, simultaneously changing back into her normal self.

"Yeah?" now the rest of the flock would soon wake up.

"I need to talk to you about-" she was cut off.

"Max!! I'm really hungry! Do we still have some of those Pop Tarts that we got at that store? Remember how that store had the best soda ever!! It was cold and icy and we were all sweaty and hot and-" Nudge had woken up.

I sighed and laughed at the same time. "They're in the bag" We had gotten food with money that my mom, Dr. Martinez, had given us.

Now, everyone was awake. Angel frowned and looked at me. Using her mind reading abilities, she projected a thought into my head, "I really need to tell you something Max."

"Later sweetie," I thought back.

The next day, we went flying with the hawks. It was everyone's favorite thing to do. The hawks were a thousand times more graceful than any of us were. They soared and swooped with us, like we were their family.

Iggy was joking with Gazzy. They were playing tag- except, if Gazzy caught Iggy, he would unleash his huge "stink bomb". Iggy, was trying really hard to stay away- despite being blind.

Fang was back in the cave with Akila, he wanted to update his blog. He had plenty of time to do that later. Fang seemed to be spending less time with the flock these days. It really worried me, I mean, Fang was always quiet. But, now he seemed to hate spending time with me. I couldn't tell though, Fang could read me, but it was hard for me to read him.

"Max?" Now Angel angled her wings to face me, "What I was gonna say this morning, it's about Fang. I picked something really weird from him. It was like when I hear your voice in your head."

I frowned, I had never asked Angel to listen to my thoughts when the Voice was talking to me. Apparently, she could hear everything. Angel, was starting to scare me. She was only six. She was also a six year old who lacked training in the ethics of mind reading. Not that there really were any ethics to that.

Angel laughed, "Am I really scary Max?" she smiled, "But, Max, in Fang's head I heard something. It was really weird but, it sounded like he had a voice in his head too."

For a second, my wings stopped beating. "Whaat?" Then I started to flap and stopped my fall.

"He has a voice too Max. And you know what? It sounded like the voice of the Uber-Director. He died though, didn't he. The director, in the hurricane."

I turned from Angel. This was so odd. And headed back to the cave to find Fang. We needed to talk. Now.


	2. Control

Thanks to Delilah's Garnet and falloutgirl88 for reviews

**Thanks to Delilah's Garnet and falloutgirl88 for reviews!! Much appreciated.**

I flew back to the cave. Wind throwing my hair around wildly. I was shocked at what Angel had told me. And let me tell you, almost nothing shocks me.

Fang was sitting in the cave, dark and silent. Akila was resting on the cold cave floor. She was used to the cold and was constantly hot from the heat of the desert.

"Fang," I said, very quietly, "What the heck is going on?"

He turned his night black eyes toward me. "Hey Max."

"I was- just and Angel told me," I spluttered, which is not something I normally do. I am always cool as Antarctica.

Fang looked at me, eyes piercing into my brain. He could just look at me and know exactly what I was thinking. "Angel told you something? About me?"

I nodded, "Fang she said you had a voice in your head. The voice of the Uber-Director."

His eyes tightened the smallest fraction, "Really? She said that?"

"What is going on Fang?" I almost yelled, nerves strung tight.

"I don't know," Fang whispered, suddenly looking very scared, except Fang was never scared. Unless a rock could be scared.

Not knowing why, I ran quickly over to him and wrapped my arms around him. Then blushed scarlet and pulled away, I heard the other flock members approaching,. If they had seen this… Oh, God, please let them have been blinded some how.

Nudge ran over, smiling hugely. "Guess What! I just caught Iggy. We were playing tag and then I flew up behind him and grabbed his jacket."

"Gosh, Nudge. That sounds really hard, sneaking up on the blind guy like that," Iggy was undoubtedly sarcastic.

Angel had her eyes on me. They were much too wise for a six-year-olds. A tiny smile was on her lips. It made her look really, really scary. Like she knew exactly what was going to happen next.

Gazzy came over to Fang, "Hey, I saw this hawk out there Fang. Its wings looked like yours," it was so sweet how Gazzy tried to be nice to Fang.

"Cool Gasman. Let's go look," Fang jumped up. For the smallest second, his eyes met mine and I knew that we would keep talking later.

That night, Fang woke me up gently, "Max."

I instantly sat bolt upright, even though I hadn't been deeply asleep. I was too worried.

Fang and I jumped off of the ledge, then soared into the dark, velvet sky. "So?" I asked.

Fang was silent, then, "Max, there is something in my head."

I was silent. Fang was not ever emotional, but his voice sounded choked. "Yeah, so what?" I decided that this was not a big problem, we had wings for God's sake, a voice- whatever.

"You don't understand Max. This thing, it can control me."

I was, for the second time that day, bowled over. Fang was my constant, even after things had gotten different between us. Now, I couldn't trust him to be himself. Something was controlling him. I took a deep breath, then, Fang punched my gut so hard, I couldn't breathe. I passed out, feeling darkness cover me as I fell towards the desert sand.


	3. Falling

Again, Thanx to Delilah's Garnet, twilighties, MaxRideFan35 for the reviews

**Again, Thanx to Delilah's Garnet, twilighties, MaxRideFan35 for the reviews. This chapter has Fax, what do you think of it??**

I woke up as I was falling towards the ground. I had only been out for a few seconds. Either that, or I had been flying really high up, neither was a comforting thought.

Couldn't remember what had happened for a second. Then it all flooded back, like a huge dam breaking open. Fang. It was all Fang's fault. I could't believe I was saying that about Fang.

After that thought was about the time that I realized that I was still falling. I turned over so that I was looking up at the sky. I saw, with my raptor vision, that Fang was above me, dark eyes horrified. Yet, he wasn't flying down to rescue me. I hoped that that was the result of the controlling voice in his head. Not his loathing for me.

Then, I decided that I was going to become a Max-pancake on the ground if I did not start flying. I turned to face the ground and pumped my wings. They hurt as if some of the small bones had broken. I flapped once, twice. Finally, I began to slow my descent, if not fly upwards.

Something in my wings hurt too much for me to fly. What had Fang done to me? All that I remembered was that he had kicked me in the stomach. Not broken my wings.

Then, I decided that there was no way I could actually fly. I would have to deal with slowing my fall. But, I had no idea how much momentum I had built up. I slowly flapped my wings, then extended them, almost like a feathery parachute. I snapped up, now falling much slower.

The ground still rushed towards me. It was closer than I had first thought. Luckily, I was over desert sand, no one could see me falling. Then, the sand was a few feet away and I fell in a heap.

The sand was hot and felt like little needles, exploding in my face. "Crap," I moaned.

_Max. You need to be careful who you trust. _ The Voice chose now to speak to me

_You might have told me that before I fell several hundred feet. Good timing, Jeb, or whoever you are._ I replied automatically.

Then, I took inventory of my injuries. Possibly broken wings, bruised or broken ribs. And lots and lots of bruises, everywhere. This wasn't good. No way was I going to be able to meet the rest of my Flock and warn them about Fang. But, I guessed they could take him. That thought hurt, the Flock fighting Fang.

A dark shadow was over me. I looked up and saw Fang's wings coming down above me. I stood up, I didn't know if I could fight, but I could try.

Fang landed and ran over to me. I raised my arms to block his punches. But, Fang came toward me hands up. "Max," he said quietly.

"Get away from me," I spit blood out of my mouth, I had forgotten to add a split lip to my list of injuries.

"I'm so sorry, Max," Fang told me, "Are you alright?"

"The hell Fang!" I yelled, "You just pushed me out of the air, damn it. I don't even know if I can trust you."

Fang came closer, "I told you Max, I can't control myself sometimes. Listen, it's me now."

I frowned, I couldn't trust someone who just sent me spinning towards terra firma. Then, hated myself, this was _Fang_. I had trusted him forever and if I couldn't trust him. "What did you tell me when we were together after Max II was defeated? How did you know Max II wasn't me?" I asked.

"Max, I'm still me, just, I can't help what this voice does to me. And I knew that Max II was fake because she offered to cook breakfast," Fang sighed.

I turned and tried to flap away from Fang and all of his incontrollable-ness. I still needed to warn the Flock. I felt another bone in my wing snap. "OWW!" I yelled.

Fang's eyes flew to my face, "Max?"

"My wing is broken," I hissed, no need to cry, it wasn't falling off yet. Maximum Ride did not cry anyway.

"Did I?" Fang asked, if he could show emotions, he would have been horrified.

I rolled my eyes, "What about this," I motioned to myself, "Did you not cause?" Then I realized how mean and hateful that sounded. I made myself know again that this was Fang, and that Fang was my friend, I thought.

Fang looked at me, then he stepped silently towards me, his arms wrapped around my bruised body, gently. "Max. You have no idea how sorry I am." He leaned over and kissed my lips very softly.

I forgot that I was supposed to not trust him. Then, I would have trusted anything Fang had told me. Except if he had said, say, that Itex was a good thing. I forgot that I was in pain and that it was Fang's fault.

Fang pulled away. Although I felt the urge to run away from him and all of my emotions, I was in no state to. "I really am sorry Max." He whispered, "but," he grinned, "not for this," he kissed me again, swiftly and stood, "I need to get you back to the cave."


	4. Gone

Thanx again to anyone who gave me feed back, much appreciated

**Thanx again to anyone who gave me feed back, much appreciated. Keep on reviewing, what should happen next?**

Fang lifted me up. Trying to avoid my broken wings. It hurt really badly, but, I wasn't a baby.

I was still wary of Fang, he had pushed me out of the sky after all, but I needed him to get me to safety.

Fang ran along the desert sand, trying to get enough momentum to lift us up into the sky. After about two hundred yards, he jumped into the air and flapped his wings, hard. We slowly gained altitude, like an injured bird.

Fang's face strained visibly at my weight. I was small and light, but a hundred pounds is still a lot to carry. I tried to think "light" and "feathers", so that Fang didn't have to work so hard.

"What are you thinking about?" Fang asked quietly.

I blushed, he knew me so well that he could tell when I was thinking something, "Um, feathers and helium and light things," I muttered.

A tiny smile crept across Fang's face. His face was slightly closer than I would have liked, but there was nothing I could do about that. Anyway, he had kissed me several minutes before, so it wasn't too weird.

We were at the cave in about ten minutes, Fang called out, "A little help here guys."

There was a movement from the cave and Iggy came flying out, white wings making him look like a seagull. "Over here Ig," I called, then winced mentally at the pain in my throat.

Iggy turned and flew towards us. His face had a really odd expression on it. He looked really scared and really confused at the same time. "Max? Fang?" he called out.

"Help me lift up Max," Fang said, "She got hurt."

I was glad he had decided not to mention that I had fallen, which would have made me seem really klutzy, or that he had pushed me, which would have made him seem like a traitor. Which ya' know might be true.

"Max is hurt." Iggy stated. He seemed really spacey, like he had been just woken up from a nap or like he was really disoriented.

Then, I saw the blood in Iggy's white blond hair. I looked up a Fang and saw in an instant that he had seen it too. A sense of panic came through me. "Angel? Nudge? Gazzy? Total? Akila?" I called out, really loud, "Hey, where are you?"

Fang tensed up, really fast, me flew me to the cave, there he set me down on the edge. I glanced into the cave and saw that no one else was in it. There were some scuff marks in the dusty ground, but not much else. There was no sign anyone had been here.

Fang was now floating in the air by Iggy. A fierce look was in his eyes. "Where did the others go?" he asked.

"Was Max hurt when they came. Did they come for you too?" Iggy sounded way paniced. The blood on his hair was dripping down onto his shirt., leaving an ugly stain.

Then, Fang was next to Iggy, guiding him to the cave. He put his finger to his lips so that only I could see it. It meant, no noise.

"What do you mean?" Fang was a deadly quiet, "Where is the rest of the Flock?"

I stood up gingerly and walked around the cave, there, I had missed it. There was blood on the wall of the cave. In it was pale blond hair. "Iggy hit his head. He has a concussion," I muttered, "Fang, they came and got the others while we were…" I trailed off.

While Fang had attacked me, the others had been attacked and bird-kidnapped. What if Fang's job had been to distract me from the others? I had no choice but to consider this option.


	5. Leaving

Soo, chapter 5, and is my story any good

**Soo, chapter 5, and is my story any good? Should I finish it fast, or keep writing?? I want to know !!**

I tensed up as I turned to Fang. He saw my tenseness and frowned slightly. I really had no idea if I could trust him. Instead, I turned to Iggy.

"Here Iggy," I handed him an icepack for his head. It was one of the ones that you break open and they turn cold.

He took it and sat down against the cave wall. "They came and and," he started, "They were robots kinda like those Flyboys or like those things that came with Gozen. They only took the little ones. They could have gotten me, but they just pushed me into a wall so that I passed out. All they wanted was the little kids."

I nodded slowly, feeling panicked, I was in no mood to be flying, and neither was Iggy. Fang was a possible traitor and even he couldn't take a whole group of people alone, besides, that would mean leaving the girl with the broken wings and the blind kid alone together, just ready to get their butts kicked.

I saw a really vacant look in Fang's eyes. He seemed to be listening to something, then I got it. It was Fang's voice. I waited until he seemed to focus on us again. "What does it say?" I muttered.

Fang's eyes looked up, surprised. "It said that I should…" Fang broke off, choking slightly, he shook his head and pointed to his throat.

"Are you choking?" I asked, incredulity.

"No," he managed to spit out, "It's controlling me so that I can't say what I heard."

"Damn it," I hissed to myself, great, now Fang couldn't even talk about something important.

"What?" Iggy asked.

I opened my mouth to tell Iggy, it didn't even occur to me that Fang was not in control of himself, "Fang has a Vo-" Fang's hard hand pressed its self over my mouth. I saw his eyes, but couldn't tell if he was being controlled or not. It was a really, really scary thought.

"What the hell?" Iggy asked, "What is going on Max? Fang?"

"Nothing Ig," Fang spoke calmly, "Just relax, you have a concussion, you need to rest."

I rolled my eyes at Fang. He was being pretty condescending, which was not at all like him. Fang raised an eyebrow in turn and partially shrugged his shoulders.

I decided that it was best to wait and see with Fang, I needed someone to help set my broken bones before they healed wrong, anyway.

I awoke later that night to Fang tapping me on the arm. My wings were already feeling better, now that they were in the right position to heal. I had Fang to thank for that. He would make a good doctor, except that he couldn't stand the smell of antiseptics, which would make being a doctor kinda hard.

I sat up slowly, trying not to wince in pain. "What?" I mouthed.

Fang sighed quietly, "I'm leaving," he whispered into my ear, voice very quiet.

"No," I hissed, "We need to plan a way to rescue the others. You can't go alone. I'll be okay in a couple days, Iggy before that."

"I'm not going to look for the others. I'm leaving," Fang set his jaw.

"No. You can't. You said that we couldn't break up again. We need each other- everyone, more than ever now."

"That was before, Max," he said gently, "I'm a danger to you now. I can't control myself. I could hurt you- did hurt you. I could hurt the whole flock now. I'll start looking now, then, once you're healed, you can follow me."

"Hell no!" I almost yelled, "You need to stay here. I don't care about the voice or the controlling issues, heck, I've had some of those before."

"Max." Fang said quietly, "I'm sorry."

"Wait," I motioned for Fang to come closer, then I sat up several more inches. I leaned up and kissed Fang gently, before I had any idea what I was doing. His eyes opened wide.

When we stopped kissing, I turned to him, "Don't leave."

"Sorry," Fang turned and flew into the sky.

I stood up and ran to the edge of the cave, I tried to unfurl my wings, but they were bandaged close to my back. "Get your ass back here!" I screamed at Fang's fading shadow.

Then I remembered Iggy. I saw his blind eyes staring at me. "How much did you see?" I moaned

"Actually, nothing," Iggy cracked a grin.

I rolled my eyes, "How much?"

"Well, I was awake since Fang woke you up."

I frowned and sighed, it was bad enough that I had kissed Fang, but, now Iggy knew too. "Damn."

"Don't worry Max," Iggy laughed, "Nudge and I had a bet about when you two would let the flock know about your engagement."

"Pardon me," I spit out, this making me angry instead of sad.

"I'm sorry, but it was obvious. I knew for a long time," Iggy said, "But, Nudge and I didn't have a bet. I promise."

I sent some dagger looks toward Iggy, "Not one word."


	6. Voice Again

Hello all

**Hello all! Here is my next awesome chapter!! As always, Please R and R**

The next morning, I woke up. I instantly remembered what had happened the night before. My cheeks burned.

Then I looked around the cave, there was Iggy, asleep. There was the blank and empty spaces where the rest of the flock should have been. That made me sad.

I made an inventory of all of my injuries. Bruises. Check. Healing Wings. Check. Tended Ribs. Check. Cuts, Scratches, Bumps, Blood. Check, check, check, check.

In fewer words, there was no way I was up to looking for the rest of the flock. No way Jose. Not unless I wanted to give a repeat of my _The Amazing, Falling, Bird-Girl- Max_ act.

Fang was still gone. I was still mad at him for leaving. I couldn't go after him. This whole situation sucked.

Then the Voice decided to yell in my head. Well, not yell 'cause the Voice never shows any emotion, but … you get the point. _Max, the flock needs you. You must go after them. _ It said.

Um, DUH! I thought back.

_No, you need to not follow the flock, Max. You will only lose. You must wait. They need you to wait._

No way! I thought again. They are my flock, I'm going to rescue them.

_You may do that Max, if you want them to die._


	7. Author's Note

Author's Note

**Author's Note**

Dear Readers,

I am going on vacation for two weeks. Also, there won't be computer access. This means, no posts. Sorry All. I will try and post again ASAP (after I get back).

**Dancer on Pointe**


	8. Flying

**Hey!! SO sorry for the long wait, but here is the next chapter. I think it's good, but tell me how you like max's little pain monologue.  
**

Flash Back

**Then the Voice decided to yell in my head. Well, not yell 'cause the Voice never shows any emotion, but … you get the point. **_**Max, the flock needs you. You must go after them. **_**It said.**

**Um, DUH! I thought back.**

_**No, you need to not follow the flock, Max. You will only lose. You must wait. They need you to wait.**_

**No way! I thought again. They are my flock, I'm going to rescue them.**

_**You may do that Max, if you want them to die.**_

End Flash Back

Iggy sat upright, as I gasped. Really loudly. "Sh- Shoot", I edited my language automatically.

"Max?" Ig said.

"I'm, uh- gonna go after Fang," I told him.

_No you're not_, the voice informed me, _You're going after the Flock._

They're two different things, I said primly.

_Max, in going after Fang, you go for your Flock._

"SHUP UP!" I screamed at the voice.

Iggy jumped up several feet. "What the Hell? What is going on Max. Damn it, don't run off too."

I sneered in his direction in frustration and through myself off the cliff. Was I healed more? Um, sure. Like my bones were

broken half way instead of split in two. Did it hurt? Frankly, the better question would be 'What the hell didn't hurt right

now?'

As my mom, Dr. Martinez had said, there were other types of hurt other than physical. Right now, my heart ached with worry

for the Flock. I was furiously worried for Fang. He was such an idiot. When I caught up with him…

But, right now, I had to concentrate on trying to be a flying teenager. Being a dead teenager would not be nearly as useful.

I flew as fast as I could in the pain, which was to say, not very fast.

Have you ever been delirious with pain? Well let me describe the experience for you. First, you need to be in pain. Second,

this pain should be constant. Third, it should take all your concentration not to cry or scream, depending on your reaction to

pain. Then, your mind should feel really fuzzy, kinda like you're really sleepy. Nothing should make much sense. Your entire

mind is focused on the pain, primarily how to make it end. Though, at this point, 'your entire mind' is not worth a lot. The

worst part though, is knowing that you can lessen the pain, by stopping, but then forcing yourself on.

I was at this final stage and fighting with all my might not to slowly descend and fall asleep in a nice comfy tree, in a

conveniently located state park. Only years of tolerating pain made it possible for me to think at all. When I did think it was

mainly bloodlust for those who had take my family.


	9. Waterfall

**Hey, a new chapter, early, to make up for not writing for so long. cute and fluffy. pleas r and r**

I flew well into the night. By then, there was a hunger that was tearing my insides apart. Not to be dramatic or anything. It made me realize I needed to eat.

I had traveled north/west, following some sense of mine that said "go this way". Probably one of those crazy things that helps birdies know where to fly and migrate.

I landed clumsily and hid my wings under a wind breaker. I had a wad of cash in my pocket from when we had last taken money out of an ATM with my credit card.

I tried, in vain, to make myself look less like I had recently fallen from a cliff. I wiped off some dirt, but, as of now, no one has invented a cure for bruises and exhaustion.

The local supermarket was the mega-chain type, open 24/7. I bought as much dehydrated food as I could, along with some deli meat, bread, apples, ketchup, and a soda. Then, I got a case of bottled water.

I felt a teeny bit guilty for buying so much water in un-reusable plastic, what with the whole global warming thing, but right now, as selfish as it seems, surviving was somehow more important to me. But, plus side, I bought a backpack, instead of using those flimsy plastic bags.

I went into the woods to make sandwiches, with the perishable foods, then went to sleep.

When I awoke, pain blossomed in my body. I felt like I hadn't moved for a year or three. There was a stiffness much greater than one that came from overexertion. I felt like someone had taken half my muscles and knotted them up. The other half had been ripped into shreads.

I shuddered, then winced at the pain. "Crap," I muttered. I had waayy over done it. It felt like some bones were still broken too.

I stood up and opened my wings, they were disgusting. I'll try and spare the details, but, let's just say a bath was eminent. I looked like something from a horror movie, to say the least.

I wondered if I could fly like this. But, since not flying wasn't an option, I had to be able to fly. If that makes any sense at all.

I climbed out of the tree, gingerly and went to a near by stream. Not anything fit to drink from, but, needless to say, picturesque.

There was a twenty foot water fall that fell into a pool about five and a half feet deep. The water came down the hill in gentle trickles.

I shed my windbreaker, leaving only my tank top. Then, I put on old cutoff exercise pants. Off went my ratty sneakers.

I took a deep breath and stepped into the water. It was icily refreshing. The bottom of the pool had nice, slippery pebbles on the bottom. I waded deeper until I was up to my neck, then I opened up my wings.

"Yo," a voice said.

I was so surprised that I slipped on the rocks as I backpedaled. I was dunked into the water. My head hit a stone, as there was a splash, followed by a wave of bubbles as someone entered the water.

I gasped, and choked. A hand grabbed my arm and yanked me free of the pool. I winced. Then, my instincts kicked in and I reeled back with my free arm and lobbed a punch at the person.

I felt my fist connect with flesh, then another hand trapped my wrist. I was pulled all the way out of the water. My arm was released and I spat out water. With my free arm, I cleared the wet hair from my eyes.

I turned and there was Fang. I could only blink for several seconds.

We were in a hollow in the rocky hill. A tiny cave, only four feet above the water.

"Max, what the hell were you doing?" Fang asked as I said

"How could you leave me like that?" We were both furious.

"Taking a bath," was my prim reply while Fang said.

"I didn't have a choice."

I bit my lip, then yelled, "You left me alone you idiot. What on Earth did you think I would do?"

Fang almost flinched, "You were injured," he spat, "Look at yourself," his voice was loud and dangerous; then, he took his own advice and for the first time saw the bruises and blood. His face softened, and he put his arm abound my.

I felt my anger dissipate and leaned against Fang as gently as I could. "How did you find me?" I whispered, "Why did you bother?"

Fang tensed, then mumbled, "Voice."

My mind sped up and I too tensed to pull away, his voice was evil and unreliable.

"No," Fang caught my upper arm and stood me up. He turned me to face him, and put his hands on my waist. "Listen, when the voice told me your location, I defied it to come and find you."

"Oh," I muttered, not quite convinced.

Fang leaned toward me and kissed me gently and quickly. "I didn't want you to get hurt." He said as he hugged me to his soaking chest.


	10. Numb

Hello

**Hello!! Here is the newest chapter. PLEASE, PLEASE R and R. Thanks to **

**FangsKiss x**

**Bree**

**Shazza-Girl**

**SkepticBeliever**

**Sorry this is so short, I have no inspiration today. Also, the line separate paragraphs, is that confusing?**

* * *

I awoke the next morning, amazingly happy. I remembered that Fang had come to rescue me. I was lying next to him, on the

ground, he had his arm around my waist.

* * *

I blushed scarlet and sat up. Oops, it was almost noon. I was so tired that I slept half the day. I felt much better though, like

I had been hurt several weeks ago.

* * *

I felt Fang stir next to me. He groaned and turned his head to the ground, away from the light. I jumped to my feet and

skittered a few feet back.

* * *

I took several minutes to think of how Fang had rescued me. I blushed again when I remembered us kissing. Then, I was so

tired that I had slept for a whole day and night.

* * *

We had to get going now!! The flock was waiting. Fang sat up as I was gathering up my stuff.

* * *

I looked at him briefly, then let him see what I was doing. He would follow, that was one of the best things about Fang, he

always knew what I was going to do. He knew to come- rescue me and he knew that I wouldn't stay behind when he left.

* * *

I hefted the backpack onto my back and turned to Fang, "Where are we going?" He asked, taking a bite out of a granola bar

that was his breakfast.

* * *

I shrugged, "I just kinda know where to go." I said.

* * *

Fang nodded and lifted up his backpack. He jumped into the air, over the pool of water. His sneakers trailed in the water,

then he fly up, above the source of the water. I watched him for a minute, then followed.

* * *

We flew for a long time, letting the air currents ease the ride, something about flying was so relaxing. The wind took hold of

you and the world was crystal clear. You could almost see the air, you could make the tinyest move and that would make

you turn completely around. The air was almost a tangible power, supporting you with its hands.

* * *

Then, hours later, we stopped for the night. Fang got dinner and brought it back to our hiding place. I ate the burritos

quickly. They tasted sooo good.

* * *

Fang was silent again. "I got first watch," I muttered and settled down in the tree.

* * *

For a while, I just watched. Then, I got aware of my body. There was a stiffness creeping up around me, it kinda made me

feel sore, but I took it as pain from flying. Then, I realized slugishly, that my limbs felt like lead. Someone had taken my

bones and replaced them with stones.

* * *

I shook my head. "Fang," I hissed, "Get up," only it sounded more like, "Fahn. Geh uhp."

* * *

He moved in his sleep but didn't get up. " Fang," I tried to kick him, but I felt like my legs had fallen asleep. They were huge

numb things attached to my body. I could feel a tiny dull pain, but nothing huge. I started to feel adrenaline rush through

me. Only, this was slow too. It was like everything was a snail, going soo slowly along the ground, not moving any real

distance, only after a long time would anything happen.

* * *

I was dizzy now, the world spun around me. I couldn't sit up. Everything was dragging me down. I focused on the dark-light

of the forest. My fall pulled me into a more absolute dark, like a sensory deprivation tank. There wasn't anything. The light

was like I was falling into a tunnel. I saw the light wink out and I was gone.

* * *


	11. Cry, Anger, Worry, Sleep

**Hello!! Glad everyone like the last chapter. One quick question- do my chapter names make any sense? i cannot write chapter titles. Thanks to ANYONE who reviewed, it makes my day- trust me. One more thing, sorry about the weird lines separting the paragraphs, won't happen again.**

* * *

I woke up slowly. I was seeing the world from under a thick blanket, when I tried to remember what had happened. It was almost as if I was remembering a dream. It was like I was listening to an audio recording of the events. Only, there were still pictures that went along with the audio.

I could only relate this to watching some picture slideshow of an event, with a recording of sound in the background.

I wasn't even sure if it had actually happened. Of course, this annoyed the crap out of me. I hate hate HATE it when I am not working at 110 percent.

**Flashback**

The world was dim and cloudy. I woke up. There was velcro pinning me down to a table. "Hello, Max," some unknown enemy told me.

"Go to hell," I yelled.

"Be careful, mutant," the enemy spit.

It sounded human, which was odd. I thought that all of the, as cliched as it sounds, bad guys, were robots now. "You're telling me," I hissed, "Watch yourself, some people might find the term 'mutant' offensive," the sarcasm dripped off my words.

"Watch," the enemy said.

I heard a whir as a huge T.V. screen came down to the wall. An image was instantly projected onto it. There was my flock.

Each of the members said their name, clearly, as if to identify themselves.

"Fang."

"Iggy."

"Nudge."

"The Gasman."

"Angel."

"Total."

"Woof." That was Akila.

A huge six sided die was projected onto the screen. Instead of numbers, there was the face of each of the Flock. For Total and Akila, there was only a paw print, apparently, they were grouped into "the dogs".

There was a loud, fake, clattering as the die was rolled, automatically. The sound stopped. The die landed up on the face of Angel. Angels's voice came over the loudspeakers.

"Max? They said that I should say something to you. They're thinking scary things, Max. They wanna kill us all. It's some kind of game. They think it's the best game ever. The only thing that really matters. Max? Everything is gonna be okay. Right? Everything always is. Right? You're gonna come and save us, you always do. And Total and Akila can be happy- What? I'm not done yet!! Please, I gotta say some more-" Angel's voice was cut off.

I heard a silent sobbing coming from me. They were awful for this. I felt a huge surge of anger, dominating me for a minute. Then the enemy's voice said, "See now mutant. That little mistake was retired just now. It is just a demonstration of what can happen to those who disobey and try to run and hide."

There was a ripping as I pulled out of the velcro ties. The adrenaline gave me massive strength. All images faded to black.

**End Flashback**

Cry

I stopped remembering. A huge pain ripped through me. They could experiment on us all they wanted. They could rip our family apart. They could sell us to work for the military. They could not, they could not, murder anyone. They had killed a child. They had killed only to kill. They had had no reason. They had crossed every lined. Everything had gone too far.

I started to cry. I didn't even think clearly about what had happened. There was just pain. Pain that could be lessened by tears. I was so sad that I wasn't even angry.

* * *

Anger

Much later. I could not cry anymore. Then there was only anger. Unfortunately, no one had checked up on me. I would have killed them. I would have smiled. Then, I would find every person who had ever _thought_ about that evil game that they came up with and killed them all as well.

* * *

Worry

Even later. I was over my anger. Now there was only worry. Worry for the rest of the flock. If they had- harmed- one _member_ already, then they could easily hurt another. I wished that someone would come and take me somewhere. Just distract me. Then I couldn't think.

* * *

Sleep

Finally, I slept. Sleep could provide relief, even if only for a short time.

* * *

**Author Note- Sorry everyone, I know this was a really dark chapter. I didn't mean to make it so sad, but it just came to me like that. Also Max's flashback and difficulty remembering comes from my very small memory of surgery and waking up after being knocked with anesthia (spelling??) Please R and R- I want at least **4** reviews before I post again. Plz?? ;)  
**


	12. Total

**Hey. Lucky you, you get another chapter. Have fun reading and please, please, please, please REVIEW, I need to know what to fix, otherwise the story stays the same.**

* * *

Much, much later, I woke up. Someone had come in to check on me.

I didn't see their face, 'cause a blindfold was slipped over my eyes.

I felt a sharp prick in my arm as a needle was inserted. I waited for numbness to take me over. It would be a relief from the pain.

There was no dulling of my senses. No way. They weren't giving me the one thing that they wanted to give to me.

After the blindfold was lifted, the person left. I still had an IV in my arm. The medicine was in a little bag. Maybe they were actually feeding me.

If I didn't pass out or die, (not that I'd know about either if they happened), then, they must be feeding me. So they must want _me _to survive at least.

Finally, I decided that they weren't going to kill me. I waited and kinda tried to not think at all. I finally felt tired again, I let myself sleep. It didn't matter; I had to sleep at some point.

When I woke up, I wasn't alone anymore. There was another person asleep in the room. I couldn't see who it was but I heard a quiet breathing.

My heart sped up, I didn't know who it was, but they would be either a friend or an enemy.

If they were an enemy, then I had resolved now to kill.

I wasn't a _naturally_ violent person. If by some "luck" I had been born "normal" I would just be a sarcastic, smart-ass, teenager. But no such luck. I wasn't normal and wouldn't ever be. I was just angry, sarcastic, pissed, smart-ass, _flying _Max.

If the person was a friend, then I would cry. NOT. I was out of tears. Even if I had any tears left in me, crying helped nothing.

If I didn't cry, I would plan a way to escape. That would be helpful.

_Max, _my voice said. It never, ever knew when to help.

_You know what? _I told it, _You need to go the hell away, comprende?_

_Max, I told you that going after the Flock would kill them,_ it said almost smugly.

_Is that what you wanted to tell me?! _ I shouted in my head, _ "I told you so"' ! You just wanna be like "Ha-ha, sucks for you. You didn't listen to that little talking VOICE- IN YOUR HEAD- now your little sister, your little girl is DEAD. I told you so, if only you had listened."_

_Max, Max, Max, _the Voice chided, _Please try to control your anger._

"Don't you tell me to calm down!"

"Chill, Max," it said.

Then, I froze, the voice hadn't spoken those last words. I turned m head around in its bindings. "Wh- Who said that," I was appalled that my words shook in surprise.

"Me," a voice barked.

"Total?" I coughed.

"Who else?" he chortled.

"Why-are-you-here?" I asked.

"They put us in pairs. You and me. Akila and Gazzy. Nudge and Iggy. Fang and Angel."

"Angel?" I choked on her name.

"Yeah," he barked, "They cuffed us together. Obviously not you and me. They separated us so that we wouldn't escape. Hey Max? "

"What?"

"Is the food here any good? The food we got sucked."

I rolled my eyes, only Total could think about food now, "When did they take you here?" I ignored his question.

"Hour ago?" he asked himself.

"You saw _all _of the others an hour ago," I clarified.

"Yeah, but seriously, chill. Why are you so worked up?" Total's eye roll was something that you could hear.

I froze; Angel couldn't have been killed a half day ago if Total had seen her an hour ago. "Were you _ever_ separated since you were captured?" I needed to know if the message was faked.

"Nah," Total said, "They never did get us apart. We wouldn't let 'em."

My heart leaped, then the message was a fake.

Then, my voice had to ruin it all. _Max. They waited until they were separated, Angel was picked off then. And her partner._

It took me a minute to think through that. _ You mean Fang!?_ I coughed to hide my gasp.

_Yes. _The Voice confirmed.

I hissed, this time I wasn't taking death as a fact until I saw the bodies. It would destroy me if they kept "killing" everyone I loved. I needed real _proof_ that they were alive.

I would not let this get to me. As Angel had said, it was all a game. I could play too.

**AN- Did you like it? Did you hate it? Let me know!! :)**


	13. Open

Hey all

**Hey all. Here is my next chapter. There aren't going to be as many updates because I'm busier now. **

I figured than it was around five hours later. I counted the times that total fell asleep. IT was something like once an hour. That dog could sleep more hours a day than any one else I knew.

I was going crazy with waiting for something, anything to happen. Hey would make me go crazy with waiting. Maybe that was the point.

At some point, I started to speak. I talked to anyone who would hear. Hoping someone would come in and tell me what was going on. I was wondering what

I heard a hiss as some slightly colored gas came into the room. I cursed mentally.

There was a voice on the loudspeakers. "Please evacuate the building now."

I froze; _evacuate the building _what was going on? Normally, when a message this ominous was announced in the whole building, it meant something.

"Total! Wake up!" I yelled.

I heard him grunt. "What?"

The gas spread through the room and I felt my head go numb. I cursed again, this time aloud. Then, my vision blurred and I went to sleep.

I opened my eyes in some time later. My Velcro bounds were untied. I quickly sat up. I checked to see if there was a door open.

The door was white and sterile looking, like the rest of the room. There was no handle, but I could push it open. Total had jumped off of the bed he was on. "It's open?" he asked.

"Yep," I nodded. Something about this wasn't right.

The door swung open easily and let us out. The hall was completely empty. It too was sterile and white.

I felt my hair stand up. What the hell was going on? Why had we been knocked out to be released? Why had the building been evacuated before we were unconscious? Had we been meant to heat that announcement? Were we supposed to think we could escape?

I was beyond wary as I walked into the hall. Some sense had me thinking that I was being watched. Knowing that the whole building was wired. Nothing said was safe. Nothing wasn't watched.

I braced myself. I was so _nervous. _This wasn't normal for me. I usually was completely confidant.

I turned to Total. I motioned at him to run.

We sprinted the length of the hall. Almost to the end, there was a single door. I made the executive decision, I went to the door and threw it open.

Inside the door was a huge room. In the chamber was a long conference table. There was a covered _thing_ on the table.

Total ran over to the table before I could stop him.

I stayed by the edge of the room. I was very tense, something was wrong.

Total used his teeth to take the cover off the table. There was a large, odd shaped box. It looked like the shape of a person lying asleep. Against my will, I went to the table.

Total found some sort of button and pressed it. I gasped as it opened. It was pretty dramatic. The steam, the hiss. It was kinda Star Wars-y. I almost laughed until I saw what was under all of the theatrical bits.

I was frozen. There was a person in that case. My mouth almost hung open. I took several steps to the box. In it was Gazzy

His eyes were closed and he was very still.


	14. Checking

**This is a mini chapter. **

I reached out in shock towards the body. Total was wining next to me. I saw a tiny tear come down his face.

I put my hand to his face. I hesitated a millimeter away from his skin.

There was some slight heat coming from the skin. I moved my hand up to his hair. I closed my eyes and lowered my hand.

My hand went down to touch his hair. It wasn't where I thought it was. I reached farther. I touched nothing.

I opened my eyes. My hand was inside of him. It was wield, I was touching the bottom of the box. My mouth hung open. "What the hell?" I whispered.

I felt around the whole box, there was nothing. At the top of the box, there was a row of glass things.

I moved my hands in front of one of them. Gazzy's face had streaks in it. It was a hologram.

I pulled my hand out and doors all around the room opened. Something came out of the doors, someone alive.

**Author note -Duh Duh Doh- more later **


	15. Memory

This is the next full chapter

**This is the next full chapter. I wanna thank all of you who reviewed I am so glad that all of you read my story.. Please still read and review. I don't need much, just a little "I liked it" is fine (but more is welcome)  
**

* * *

The doors automatically opened and out ran several tall people. They seemed to be impossibly skinny and long. I felt like I was looking at really realistically drawn stick figures.

They ran towards us with jerky movements. Their joints seemed to be stiff and tight. I had the oddest feeling that these people weren't human, or even close to it.

Total noticed the one thing that I hadn't, "Max," he hissed, "They're heads aren't real."

I did a double take. What did Total mean? Then I saw that the heads of these stick people looked much like round balls, covered in a thin, skin-like material. In fact, it looked as if all of the people were skeletons covered in a thin skin; there was no muscle or shape to the bodies. All of them were identical.

I waited for them to approach us, and then landed a spinning kick on one's chest. It kept coming at me. I sighed and chopped at its neck, hoping to sever its spinal cord. I felt my finger break, these stick people were made out of something _hard_.

Total jumped at one's leg and bit it. The thing was unperturbed, but I heard an odd scraping sound, as if Total's teeth were biting metal. Total spit, and barked out a confirmation, "They're made out of some metal stuff, Max. I bit it and it didn't bleed."

I realized what these things were and said, "Brains on stick legs," brains that had no real body.

I glanced quickly at Total, "Up and Away," I didn't have time to stay in this crazy place anymore. We needed to get away.

Total looked at me and started to flap his tiny wings. They got him about three feet off the ground, then I grabbed him and (to my embarrassment) stuck him in my jacket.

I started to flap my wings then wanted to hit myself over the head. I was in a conference room. _Inside._ There was no way I could just fly away. Instead I sprinted to one of the open doors and shut it.

I turned around and saw I was in some short of metal room. The metal was all shiny and I could see myself in a mirror. I could also see the door closing. I turned just in time to see the door slam shut. There was a click that was undoubtedly a lock.

I was furious at myself. I was falling for _every_ trick in the book. Every trick that I should _know_. I was being a complete idiot. What was _wrong_ with me? "Damn it, Damn it, Damn it," I hissed.

"Are you okay Max?" Total asked, popping his head out of my jacket.

"Get out you stupid- , you stupid- Uh whatcha call it. You stupid- animal," I couldn't think of the word that described what type of animal Total was.

Total looked- mad, "You mean a dog? And who are you calling stupid?"

"What's a dog?" I asked confused, I knew I had never heard of anything known as a dog.

"What do you mean, 'what's a dog?'" Total looked mad.

"You look mad," I said again.

"No duh," he looked mad.

"You look mad and mad again," I said to the mad looking thing on the ground.

"Are you joking Max? 'Cause this is soo not funny," the thing said.

"Who are you? Why do you know me? Where am I?" I had no answer to any of those questions.

"This is your last chance Max Ride. You stop it right now. And don't be all defensive."

"What does 'defensive' mean?" I asked, completely confused. "I don't get this. I can't remember why I'm here."

"How the heck did they screw with your memory?" the thing asked again.

"My memory isn't bad. I just can't think about all this stuff. It's too hard. You're using way too many big words. I don't get it. Why won't anyone tell me what's going on?" I felt even the surest things in my life slipping away.

"Max," the thing said to no one I knew, "You know that if your memory is bad, it means you can't think of stuff."

"Who's Max?" I asked.

"Oh my god. Holy crap," the thing said, "They musta done something to your head. You don't even know who you are. Holy crap, this bad. Oh my god."

"Who is Max?" I asked again, "Wha' does 'crap' mean?"

"You're Max," the thing shouted, "You're just like a baby. You can barely talk."

"I am Max? Am I a baby? Thing, are you a baby?"

"Did you call me a 'thing'? I am not a thing. I am a dog. _Canis lupus familiaris _ This is crazy Max."

I fell to the ground. I choked and grinned, "Yah!! Again!!" I tried to stand up and sit down again, but couldn't.

I opened my mouth to talk. I said, "Ga, goo."

I fell on my side. I was on the ground and couldn't move. Slowly the world faded.

* * *

**PLEASE READ FOR EXPLANATION OF CHAPTER**

* * *

**Author Note- I know this chapter was confusing. I'll explain because half the time Max can't think like a teenager. **

**1.Max starts forgetting experience. She falls for things she should know about; she enters a room without checking it out, she tries to fly in a building, she lets the door lock behind her. **

**2. Max starts forgetting basic words like 'dog'. She starts losing her vocabulary, she says that Total is "mad" about a million times. **

**3 .Max forgets who Total is.**

**4. Max forgets the events that came before. She had no idea where she is.**

**5. Max forgets her own name.**

**6. Max forgets how to stand.**

**7. Max forgets how to talk.**

**To find out **_**why **_**all of this happens, read the next chapter- coming soon.**


	16. Paralyze

**All right- here's the thing, I need some more review, I really like feedback from people (who doesn't). It makes me less likely to update the story if I don't get reviews, got it? More review more updates. If you have review, thanks, keep it up!! Also, just read my story, I have sooo few hits. It was like 50 for the last chapter**

* * *

I could hear voices again. They made sense to me now. I wondered who was talking, then I wondered where I was. For a moment I imagined myself in my Mom's house then, I opened my eyes and saw a white sealing.

I felt the straps that held me down on a table. They were constricting my arms. I tried to groan, I couldn't. I tried to strain against the Velcro straps, I couldn't. I couldn't move.

I was so mad! What were they playing with? First I am shown my flock dead. Then they're not. Then we're released. Then they show Gazzy dead, never mind, a hologram. Then they give me some drug that keeps me from thinking straight. Then I'm captured again, 'just kidding about that releasing you part'. Now I was lying on a table, I couldn't move or speak, except to blink.

Seriously, they were being so random. It was literally going to drive me insane. I would have rolled my eyes if I could. This was so old. I mean, if there have to be evil scientists, then they could at _least_ be original. They all must have Evil Scientists for Dummies- How to demystify evil science.

I waited and waited and waited, until finally, I saw a face over my head. It was a youngish looking guy who had on- guess- a white lab coat.

"You are Maximum?" he asked.

I stared up at the ceiling, I couldn't have answered even if I'd wanted to. The man frowned, "Are you Maximum?" he rephrased, as if I didn't understand him before.

I was still silent. The man's face turned red in irritation, "I know you are awake!!" he shouted, "Speak mutant."

If I had been able to speak, I would have been laughing. It was really ironic; I was acting insolent, only because they had given me drugs that had paralyzed me.

The White Coat raised his hand and slapped me across the face. My head lolled to the right. I could feel the sting of his hand. I looked down at a white, sterile table I was lying on. Now that my head had been turned, I couldn't move it back up again.

There was the sound of a door opening. "Johnson!" a voice called.

"_Dr._ Johnson," Johnson muttered.

"You were told not to physically harm the subject."

"Sorry, sir," Johnson replied, "It wouldn't answer me."

"Have you read her file?"

"Yes," Johnson sounded bored.

"If you had, then you would know that she cannot speak," the voice disapproved, "Get out. I'll find someone more competent for the job."

_Jerk _I though. There were footsteps retreating. I was glad that that scientist was gone. More footsteps came closer to my head. I saw the torso of a man near my head.

Cold hands lifted up my head for a moment. Then my neck was supported with a brace, that way, my neck wouldn't move from side to side.

"Were going to be asking you some questions, Maximum," the new white coat said, "I know that you can't speak, but I'll have you blink. One blink for yes, two for no."

I was pissed, _now I got to talk to them like some stupid animal. God, they talked to me like I was a person, but they wouldn't let me talk._

I was shocked out of my thoughts when my table began to slide up. It split in half so that I was sitting in a kind of chair.

I could now see around me. That was a relief. I was so grateful right now that the white coats didn't know much about me. This way, I could see my escape routes. I could plan a way to get out of this place.

I saw the man who was talking to me. He was tall and young, but seemed to be in charge. His name tag read, Dr. Ryan Marks.

I couldn't see the door to the room, but, there was a large screen on the wall in front of me.

"Are you ready, Maximum?" Dr. Marks asked.

I held my eyes open for as long as I could before I blinked.

"Let's not be uncooperative, now," he was patronizing, "You know what we can do to you. We have drugs much more powerful than the one that temporarily reverted your brain to a state of infancy. We can turn your bones to jelly if we want."

I called him a lot of bad words in my head. He deserved it. If he thought I was going to cooperate, then _he_ must not have 'read my file'. And also, threats went no where with me.

The wall screen lit up. It showed a bright picture of our old house, in Colorado. "Do you know this place?" I was asked.

I blinked rapidly. Then, they couldn't get an answer. A hot shock radiated through my fingers. It felt like some one had placed something hot over my hand.

"Did you feel that?" Dr. Marks asked, "That is what happens when you don't answer."

I would have shrugged, I could endure torture.

"Same question."

I closed my eyes and kept them shut. Then, the door opened again. Another voice, female this time spoke, "Is she not cooperating?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure she will," Dr. Marks said.

"Yes," the female laughed. A shock ten times stronger than the one before came through me. I wanted to scream at the pain. It was almost too much for me to take without noise.


	17. Poll

**Author Note-**

* * *

**This is a poll about what should happen next and about the character of Dr. Ryan Marks.**

**Post your choice as a review. **

**1-Dr. Marks should become a bigger character**

**2-Dr. Marks should be good and help Max escape.**

**3-Dr. Marks should be the new Director of the school**

**4-Dr. Marks should pretend to be good, but actually be bad.**

**5-Dr. Marks should be a 'love interest' for Max.**

**6-Dr. Marks should go away and never come back again.**

* * *

**Please post your choice. It helps me.**


	18. Questions

**All right, Here is the next chapter. Sorry for the wait. The results of the poll as of NOW. Don't worry, you can still give your opinion later. **

_Dr. Marks should become a bigger character-_** 0  
**

_Dr. Marks should be good and help Max escape- _**2**_  
_

_Dr. Marks should be the new Director of the school-_**2**

_Dr. Marks should pretend to be good, but actually be bad-_**3**

_Dr. Marks should be a 'love interest' for Max-_**2**

_Dr. Marks should go away and never come back again-_**1**

**This isn't really enough for me to decide, but, I have a few ideas. **

**Also, to those of you who miss the flock... Please read this chapter.**

* * *

I lay there for several minutes, my ears ringing.

Then, Dr. Marks leaned in towards my ear, "Max," he whispered, "I will never do that to you. I'm here to get you out. If you just answer the questions, then I _will_ get you out of here."

I was shocked for a minute. A _good_ white coat? For me, that was like saying Santa Claus was real.

"Do you understand?" Ryan Marks asked.

I blinked once.

"Same question as before."

I blinked once.

Now there was a picture of Ari on the screen. "Did you know this mutant?"

One blink.

"Did you kill him in Germany?"

Two blinks.

Now there was a picture of the Arctic research base. "Have you ever been there?"

Another blink.

"Which of your flock were you last in contact with?" There were pictures of all of the flock on the screen; next to it was the number of times I should blink. _This is like a freaking multiple choice test. Fill in bubble 'a'. _

I blinked five times, the number next to Total.

"Have you ever known a person called Valencia Martinez?"

I blinked twice to protect my mom.

Ryan Marks continued without noticing my fib. "Do you have a voice in your head?"

Yes, I blinked accordingly. Also, it has no idea when to be helpful, should I blink that out in Morse code?

"Have you ever seen something known as the 'Uber-Director?" The screen showed a blurry, security camera shot of the UD. A brain on a stick, version 1.0.

That would be, one blink.

"Has any of your family ever gone by 'James'?"

That was Iggy's real name. Blink.

"Are you fifteen?"

Two blinks.

"Are you set to expire in 2010?"

My mouth went dry. They knew when I was going to expire? Were they telling the truth? Had the date appeared on the back of my neck? What was going on? I felt panicked.

I guess my eyes blinked a lot 'cause Dr. Marks said, "Have you heard of your expiration date before now?"

I blinked once. Feeling dread pile on. Did I only have a few years left to live?

Suddenly, Marks pressed his hand to ear. This usually meant that you had an ear piece in. He turned and pushed a button on his jacket. I saw several attendants run through the doors and with a syringe. It was shot into my arm.

I flinched at the pain. Then, I realized that I could move. The syringe must have counteracted the drug. Dr. Marks yanked off my Velcro straps. I sat up and ran to the door.

"We need to evacuate," Dr. Marks said, "A killer has escaped the facility."

"Uh, Dr. Marks," my voice was rusty, "Is that really true?"

"Call me Ryan," he said, and then looked me straight in the eye and blinked twice.

I smirked. I didn't know if I could trust him, but he did have a sense of humor that most 'real' evil scientists seemed to lack.

Ryan smiled, "Come on Max."

He led me through the hall ways to a door that had a sign on it, Top Security, it read, DO NOT Enter without Protective Gear.

Ryan keyed in a code into a little pad and the door swung open, "Ladies first?" he gestured.

I rolled my eyes, "_Forget_ courtesies with me. _You_ are going first. Don't think you can lock me in." Really, how stupid did he think I was?

Ryan shrugged and tramped down the steps.

I heard a voice then that made me freeze. I looked at Ryan, eyes narrowing.

I heard the voice again, "We told you to leave us alone! We're not coming with you!"

I knew that it might be a trap, but at this point I didn't care. I pushed Ryan out of the way and flew, figuratively, down the stairs.

At the bottom, was _all_ of my flock.


	19. Rescued

**Here is the next chapter- please read and review as always.**

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My heart went to my stomach. I _saw_ all of my flock, well and whole, just down the steps. Angel. Nudge. Iggy. Gazzy. Total. Akila. Fang.

I blinked several times, then was reminded of the questioning and stopped.

I choked out a word, "Guys?"

"Max?" Nudge said.

"Yes!" Angel said, elated.

_What going on?_ I asked Angel in my head. _Is Ryan bad? Is this a trap?_

She answered me aloud, "No, Max, it's alright now. We're going to be free."

Ryan pushed down the stairs, past me. He fumbled around and headed to a key pad by the door. He quickly typed in a _long_ code, at least twenty numbers long, with some repeats, this way, Nudge couldn't sense the password. This time the people had done their research.

The door clicked open.

I saw Fang look at my eyes. I checked him over, quickly, to see if he was okay. He looked fine. He even smiled a little at me, and my stomach jumped.

I went to the door and said, "Come on, we gotta leave now."

"What happened?" Iggy asked, "Max?? How did you get here?"

I sighed, "I'm just gonna say it's a _really_ long and confusing story, okay?"

Iggy rolled his sightless eyes and shrugged, "I trust you, I guess."

"You'd better," this was the type of banter we were used to.

Ryan sighed, "Look, I know that this is some kind of reunion for y'all, but we have to go. You can catch up later. Also, I'm really sorry that this had to happen "

I looked at him, shrewdly, he was playing the good guy _for now_. I couldn't predict farther than that.

The whole flock filed out of the door, and Ryan shut it behind us. It lead to some type of tunnel.

Iggy and Gazzy looked , while Gazzy looked, at each other. "Uh, Max," he said, "This is a lot like those tunnels at _school_.," he grimaced at the word 'school'.

I raised my eyebrows at Fang, tunnels at our old school? This was one thing we hadn't heard about. I decided to save that conversation for later.

"Really?"

"Yeah," Iggy said, "The air islike, all musty and damp and still, like it doesn't connect to anything.

I turned to Ryan, "Where are we going?" No nonsense.

He looked back at me, "Some place safe."

"That's not good enough-. " I began, then he interrupted.

"The tunnels come out in a cave, several miles away, then you can fly to another safe place, I would suggest out of the country. The influence of – " he paused, " Well, let's just say that it is safer _out_ of the lion's den."

I liked that he gave us a real answer, not a crap answer, like 'some place that I have prepared specially for you- like a school.'

If he tried that crap, I would tell him something like, _as soon as we get out of this tunnel-cough-trap-cough, then I am going to make you wish that you had opted to teach kindergarten._

Instead I smiled genuinely, "Thanks," I said, then blushed.

I felt someone's eyes on me as we walked. I didn't want to give them the satisfaction of seeing me turn, but, the feeling was so _creepy_ that I had to check.

Fang's eyes were watching me. _Of course_. I walked slower so that I fell next to him, "What," I hissed out of the corner of my mouth.

He looked at me, slowly, then glanced at Ryan, as if to say 'why trust him?'.

I rolled my eyes and said, "He rescued me," almost a whisper.

Fang nodded, as if to remind me of Jeb and Anne Walker.

I shrugged, "Suit yourself," again, a whisper.


	20. Out

Sorry its been so long since I posted

**Sorry its been so long since I posted. Here is the next chapter. Please R and R**

We walked down that tunnel for over an hour. Mind you, this was human walking speed.

Also, let's remember that we (meaning my flock) are mucho de claustrophobic. So, you could touch the tension in the air, by the time we came to the end of the tunnel.

Ryan was panting some; he did not have super-mutant-bird-kid stamina. But, I gave him some credit, he hadn't complained or asked us to slow down or rest. Not even once.

"Here we are," he informed us.

I looked at Fang, his face was tight with stress. The rest of the flock looked wary. They expected this to be a trap.

Ryan moved to a small metal door and pushed on it. Instantly, it fell forward, taking Ryan with it. Nudge and I, who were the closed, grabbed his arms, to keep him from falling forward.

The door crashed down and light flooded the tunnel. All of us squinted at the brightness. I could smell some sort of grass.

Fang peered out anxiously, while Nudge and I set Ryan back on his feet.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Southern California, near Mexico."

That sounded about right. The air was hot and dry now. I could see that the sun was bright as well.

-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

We had decided to stay in a hotel for the night. Apparently, Ryan had some cash. By "some cash" I mean several thousand dollars, in hundred dollar bills.

With the cash, we had gotten several rooms in a rather sketchy looking hotel. At least they weren't suspicious of the large bill amounts.

Ryan had his own room. Nudge and Angel were sharing a room. Iggy and Gazzy also decided to share. The dogs were with Angel. That left me. And Fang.

There was NO way I was sleeping in the same room as him. And I told him that. He had smirked a little, then suggested that we get two extra rooms. "That we will do," I said primly.

So, I had my _own_ little room. And that was that.

Around ten-o-clock that night, I heard a knock on my door. I didn't respond, but checked through the peep-hole thing. I saw a rather distorted view of Fang's face.

Without answering, I opened the door.

"I need to talk to you," he mouthed.

I stepped aside and let him in.

After the door was closed, I spoke, "What?"

"Why did you trust him?" he asked me.

Well, that was certainly cutting to the chase, no tact here. "Because, I wanted to save all of your asses."

"You could have killed us all."

"But I didn't."

"Why risk it?" he looked at me angrily.

"What is your _problem_?" hadn't he learned to be grateful?

"Max, while you weren't with us, do you have any idea what happened to us?"

My eyes widened, "Did they hurt-?"

"No."

My breathing slowed, "Then what happened? Why didn't you tell me before?"

"All of the time. _All_ of the time, there was a screen in my room. Not anyone else's, unless they were with me. Do you know what that screen showed?" Fang's voice cracked.

"No," I whispered.

"You. I saw everything. _Everything_ that they did to you. Even when you weren't awake. I could always see you."

I was silent, this was- unexpected.

"I heard every word that you said. It was like watching a movie."

"I'm so sorry," I muttered. For some reason, I also blushed, Fang had seen me break down in so many ways. I had cried so many times. I turned my head away.

"But, they told me that you were going to be killed. That after they questioned you, you were to be eliminated."

I glanced at Fang and immediately came over to him and put my arms around him. "I'm so sorry," was all I could manage.

"But, I know one thing, Max. I know where we should go."


	21. Hotel

**Sorry, there might be a longer chapter this weekend, but today there is only a mini chapter. Please R and R if you want a longer chapter this weekend.**

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I looked at Fang for a long minute, "You certainly kept quiet about this."

He shrugged, "There wasn't a good time."

"Oh, right. I know that we didn't just, I don't know, walk in some stupid tunnel for several _hours_," I was mad.

Fang's forehead creased. "It wasn't private."

"Oh, so is one of the flock a traitor now?"

"You know what I mean," Fang stood up and stepped towards me, he grabbed my shoulders, "What the hell were you thinking when you trusted that Dr.?"

"It was the only choice, and, we aren't talking about that now," I insisted, "Where should we go?"

Fang gave me a look that told me that I was gonna get I later but answered, "We're going to Mexico."

"Okay," I trusted him, "It's a good thing we're close 'cause we're gonna have to walk."

Fang looked at me like I was crazy, "Why?"

"Do you want to carry the doctor?"

Fang's hands tightened on my shoulders, "We aren't taking _him_ with us."

"Who died and put you in charge?" I answered; I didn't like Fang acting like the leader.

Fang sighed, "You are so stubborn," he rolled his eyes and for some reason took his hands from my shoulders and pulled me into a tight hug.

I wasn't quite sure, but I thought I heard him whisper, "I'm so glad you're safe."


	22. More Hotel

**As promised, here is a longer chapter. Read and review as always. Thanks if you have reviewed, i'll post a list some time.**

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After Fang had hugged me, he left and went to his room. It was late, but, normally that didn't matter. I didn't like that we hadn't worked everything out.

The next morning, I got up early when someone was banging on my door. I threw on some jeans and a shirt and opened the door, "What?" I mumbled, as I was tired.

I saw Nudge looking kinda hyper and awake. "I'm hungry," she told me.

"Did you _have_ to wake me up to say you were hungry? It's not a reason to alert the press."

"Fang told me to get you up," Nudge's eyes were the picture of innocence.

"Whatever," I rolled my eyes, "Give me a couple minutes to get ready."

­­­-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

The hotel that we had picked did not provide us with complimentary breakfast. No, not even coffee or tea or something.

We headed to the nearest grocery store and picked up some food. Poptarts, Lucky Charms, Milk, Instant Coffee (for Total), donuts, etc.

We traveled back to our lovely hotel to eat.

I really needed to talk to Fang some more, _without_ anyone else's intervention. That was going to be hard. The last time that I had gone off on my own to talk to Fang, the flock had been kidnapped. No need to repeat history.

The real question was whether or not to take Dr. Marks with us. I knew that Fang was against him, but I wanted to do what the Dr. wanted. He had rescued us. But, I wasn't gonna let this get between us again. There was no way that Ryan was going to turn into another Ari.

I was going to have to do with a very quick chat with Fang. After breakfast, I got him to come with me to my room. I sat down on my bed and bounced a little. "We have to talk."

His face stayed blank.

"I'm getting Dr. Marks in here and we are talking about where we should go next. Okay?"

I stood up and headed for the door. "Wait," he called to me. I spun on my heel.

"What?" I wanted to know.

"There is something I didn't tell you."

My eyes hardened, "What?"

"Have you heard from your voice lately?"

My heart froze, was Fang's voice back? "No," I whispered, mouth dry.

"I think it's in my head now. They must have taken it out of you or whatever."

I felt adrenaline rush through my veins, "No. No, no, no, no, no."

"Why are you afraid?" He looked puzzled.

"Because last time it took you over," I hissed, "You, it, almost killed me."

"It doesn't control me anymore," he insisted.

My head spun, I _had_ to be able to trust Fang. It wasn't a choice. But, what if it wasn't him, what if he was being controlled. I was silent for a minute.

"If it were, you would notice. Last time, it only controlled my body. Not my mind, not my words," he assured me.

"Shit," this sucked.

"Please, you must trust me."

Then a knock on the door rang through the room, Fang went and opened it, I saw Dr. Marks waiting.

"Come in," I sighed.

When he looked hesitant, Fang motioned to a chair, "Sit," he said tersely.

Ryan looked uncomfortable. He shifted nervously in his seat. "Um, I was wondering what you were thinking about what to do next. It's not a good idea to stay in one place for a long time."

I glanced at him speculatively, "I knew that a long time ago. We were wondering if you were coming with us."

Fang glared at me.

Ryan tried not to notice, "Um, I hadn't thought about it."

"Meaning no," I said.

"No, no. Just that do you want me?" He smiled.

"It's not easy. We will leave you behind if you can't keep up," Fang said.

"Fang!" I admonished, then turned to the doctor, "He didn't mean that you would have to fly. You just can't complain, when we move fast, or sleep in the dirt. I mean it too. We will leave you like this," I snapped my fingers, "If you try _anything_.

"Where are you going?" Ryan wanted to know, apparently not intimidated by me.

"Away from here," my cryptic answer.

"I'll go with you," he replied.

Then, Fang reached for Ryan's ear. Quickly, he yanked out a tiny ear bud. He looked at me, self-righteously. Fang took out the ear bud and crunched it beneath his heel. "How about you stay right here," he said, and punched the guy in the face.

I took a step back and looked at Fang, "Sorry," I muttered.

"You're getting too trusting," he laughed and punched my shoulder, gently.

I tried to smile back, but my smile twisted, what if I couldn't trust him?


	23. Viva Mexico

**I KNOW that its been a long time. I'm sooooooooooooooo sorry, but I was busy, im sure u all know. Anyway, here is the next chapter**

**Read and review- Please

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"Guys," I faced the flock, "We got a problem."

"Is it a _really_ big problem?" asked Iggy.

I rolled my eyes, "Listen, Ryan, Dr. Marks, was a traitor. Fang found an ear piece on him."

"No surprise there," muttered Iggy.

"_Anyway_, we have to leave, now. And I'll tell you where we're going once we've started flying? Got it?"

Everyone nodded and went to pack, quickly.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

We were in the air in an hour. It was hot and dry outside. My throat was parched and I could barely swallow, Oh well.

"So, where are we going?" asked Total.

"Mexico," I said, without enthusiasm.

"Yum, tacos," he grinned, an odd expression on a dog, "Can I try some tequila?"

"Um- let me think about it- no."

"Darn."

I rolled my eyes, "You're not even above the legal drinking age."

"In dog years," he hinted.

"In dog years, I'm 82," I laughed, "Do I look like an old lady to you?"

"Well…"

"Don't answer that," I cut him off.

Fang flew up next to me, "Hey, don't ask questions you don't want answered," he told me.

I leaned over and punched him, playfully, laughing. I felt happy and almost safe for the first time in a while. Flying did that to you. It was like being in charge of everything, you could see everyone. It was the best thing, ever. Almost worth all of the pain.

Fang soared up to the front of the flock, and Angel took his place.

"Hey, sweetie," I grinned.

Angel smiled her tiny smile back, "I was looking in Fang's head and I heard-."

My heart sank, "A voice?"

"No, no. Max, don't be scared. Fang was thinking that it was good to see you smiling again."

Oh. I didn't know he paid attention to that. "Yeah, well, um, yeah. Flying makes me happy," I said, ineloquently. That was a _smooth_ answer Maximum, why don't you act more like a teenager in love or whatever. _Not_ that I _am_ in love with anyone.

Angel grinned, "That was a funny thought Max. Why are you trying to deny things so much?"

Her innocence and mindreading was a little too much for me right now.

"I don't know what you mean," I smiled kindly, "Angel, sweetie, can you get Fang over hear? I need to talk to him.


	24. Night

**Here is a new chapter, even if it is short. It'll make up for the time I didn't write.**

**Anyway- READ and REVIEW please-

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I went to the front of our little flock, trying to see talk to Fang. He said that he wanted to talk to me. That was happening a lot lately.

"What up?" I asked, making sure that he was okay, not being controlled by his "voice".

He shrugged, an odd motion for one flying. "I'm good."

I rolled my eyes, he was being pretty cryptic.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

The next day, we were around a mile from the US/Mexico border. The temperature was around 106 degrees. I was sweating constantly. I could really use a shower.

"Max," whined Nudge, "It is so hot."

"No duh," I responded.

"Can we check into a hotel?" She pleaded.

"Sorry, we can't risk it," I said, "It's way too risky, being so close to Mexico."

"Can we go for a swim?" She asked again.

"Do you _see_ any water?"

She was silent, I took that for a 'no'.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

That night, the heat had lessened. I was on first watch, but it was just past eleven. At least the sun was no longer out.

I had my back against a wall of rock. It was under the shade of this rock that we had decided to sleep. There were no state forests this far south.

It was late and I was tired. I must be losing my instincts, because before I knew it, I was dreaming.

Sometimes, when you first wake up after a light sleep, you get disoriented. This doesn't normally happen to me. I woke up feeling that I was waking up in a bed. Some part of my mind knew that I was asleep on the dirt in a desert. A warm hand was put on my shoulder. I jumped awake.

"Fang," I hissed.

He looked at me, eyes a light. "Come on."

"Where?"

"Just come," he mouthed.

I rolled my eyes and stood up; blushing when I realized that he had caught me sleeping on the watch.

We walked several hundred yards away from the others.

"What?" I asked, when we gave a silent agreement to stop.

He shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you."

"About," I hinted.

He looked at me, "Max, some thing is going on between us," when I opened my mouth he said, "Don't deny it."

I sighed, "Okay, do we have to have this conversation Fang?"

He frowned, "Why do you avoid everything?"

"I do not!" I muttered.

He rolled his eyes in frustration, "Do you remember when we talked in the hotel?"

"Yes," grudgingly.

He stepped towards me, "I care about…"

I bit my lip, "Fang, I don't know what to say to you," that was new, me admitting to a flaw, to being speechless.

"Then don't say anything," he said.

I opened my mouth and tried to speak, but he stepped closer again.

"We both know what to say Max," he informed me, "I know it's hard for you, but, you know what you want to say. I know what you want to say, because I want to say it too."

I started blushing. This was embarrassing and awkward. But, Fang had a point, I did know what I wanted to say, if I was brave enough. I bit my lip, I could fight any number of Erasers or whatever robots were replacing them _this_ week. I could not, however speak to Fang about my feelings.

"Don't say anything," he repeated, then kissed me on the mouth.

For a minute, I just let it go, then I broke away.

"Fang, I," was my mumbled reaction.

He kissed me again, not answering.


	25. Burritos

**Sorry for the wait- **

**Happy thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it**

**Hope you enjoy the chapter, please be nice and review, I know you have time…

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**

The next morning, I woke up, feeling alert and rested. Then, I thought back to the events from the night before. I was surprised when I remembered what had happened.

_Fang had finally stopped kissing me. I looked at him at muttered, "Um- maybe- you might have been right about some things- ya' know what I mean," it was more of a mumble than anything else. _

_He had grinned at me and nodded, but I wasn't embarrassed. I felt better for some reason. I guess that I had needed to finally admit to myself that I had feelings for Fang. Maybe saying it to him had been the right thing to do. I finally knew that I was alright. Fang hadn't rejected me and everything was- and I couldn't believe that I was saying this- wonderful. Sure, we will on the run from God-knows-what, but finally I could trust Fang again. He could truly be my right hand man and everyone would at least more comfortable_

Now that I thought back, I could still feel happy. After that epiphany, I had gone to sleep, with Fang taking watch. I had no qualms about letting him look over the entire flock, he was safe.

Apparently, he had been a kind of gentleman and let me sleep the rest of the night, _what a luxury_, a whole nights rest.

I stretched and sat up, looking around for everyone else. I smelled smoke, apparently they had woken up and not told me.

"Hey guys," I muttered, "What's goin' on?"

The flock turned around to face me. "Max! You're up!" Nudge, of course, to which I nodded, "We're making some of these cool burrito things, for breakfast."

I sniffed the air, "Smells great," this was probably due to my inferior cooking skills, eggs were beyond me, "Where'd you get the food?"

"Fang got it," Angel said, a tiny secret smile in my direction.

I blushed, hearing Fang's name. I tried to avoid his eyes. Also, Angel now knew _exactly_ what had happened, that was an awkward thought. She was only six, for gosh sakes.

"_Don't worry Max," _her voice sounded in my head, I rolled my eyes, and "_It's just like a fairy tale."_

I kept my mind from thinking snide thoughts around the lines of how fractured that "fairy tale" might be.

"So…" Iggy began and coughed.

"So what?"

"So- what's happening next?"

"Um- Mexico," I said, confused at his question.

"How?" he asked, "Fang got newspaper today and there was some mention of 'border fence' and illegal immigrants."

I rolled my eyes, "In case you've been under a rock for fourteen years, we can fly."

Everyone laughed, including me. Fang looked at me and my heart jumped.

"I guess that might help," Iggy conceded.


	26. Crossing

**Hope everyone had a good thanksgiving!!! I did, then I went shopping!! Sorry, just a little hyper. **

**I want to give a special thanks to **ironyheartsap **for their very long review. Just a note people, this is what a GREAT review looks like. Not that I don't appreciate short reviews, trust me, I do.**

**Anyway… next chapter

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It was around eleven at night. I was, although I didn't want to admit it, nervous. We were about to fly over the US/Mexico border.

Even though we had planned our crossing as far away from people as possible, we had no idea if people would be watching. My greatest fear was that someone would see us. I wasn't worried about some wimpy border patrol guy with a five year old gun. I was more worried about a non-human robot with a ten year ahead of most technology gun. Yeah, more of that type of danger.

I refused to actually tell anyone of my fears. Even with my newfound _um_ relationship, with Fang. I cannot believe I actually thought that- relationship- I sound like- Oh my God.

I just tried to tell myself that everything was going to be okay. Yeah, right. Is _anything_ _ever_ 'okay' in my life? Um- not really. Mostly my plans crash land at some time or another. Great. Just great. Nice way to boost your confidence Maximum, I thought. I _really _ need to stop talking to myself.

I made a tiny motion with my hand, a gesture for the rest of the flock to walk over to me. They were ready. Me, Fang and Nudge all had backpacks full of food. Iggy had Akila. Angel and Gazzy were taking turns with Total.

"Ready?" I asked.

All of them nodded with various degrees of enthusiasm. "I'm ready for some tacos," Total chimed in.

I frowned. Actually, I glowered at him, "This is serious."

I realized that I was a bit harsh, "I just mean that, can you please try and not think of food. You're going to make us all hungry."

I caught Fang's eye and he looked at me like he knew what I was feeling. Knowing Fang, he probably did.

We were in the air in about ten minutes. I managed to spare the Flock the 'behave' lecture, which I'm sure they appreciated.

We were about fifty miles away from the border, but it took only a couple of minutes to reach the border. I could see a huge fence, chain and barbed wire, below us. Just the thought of it made my stomach crunch.

I hated cages, and the fence reminded me all too much of a huge cage, all around America. Keeping people out… and in.

Surprisingly, we made it across without any event. In fact, I didn't see a single person. Which I should have taken as an ominous sign.

By the time we reached a large city, it was almost dawn.

"Well, guys," I said, "We made it."

Total nodded, "Hablan espanol?" he asked if I spoke Spanish.

I rolled my eyes, "No. You need to keep quiet, I doubt that talking dogs are normal, even in Mexico."


	27. Fighting

**Sorry for the wait!!! Hope you like this chapter ill try and make it longer**

**Please read and review!!!

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**

We were in a tiny Mexican border town. By tiny I mean- _tiny._ It was about three blocks of restaurants and run down houses. There was one tiny gas station that served as the grocery store. And there wasn't a motel in sight. Not one. We had picked a _wonderful _(sarcastic) place to escape to.

Iggy and Nudge and Total were all for flying on to a bigger city, but I knew that the younger ones needed some rest.

Fang and Nudge, who could pass as the most Mexican (though they weren't), bought us food from the gas station. A gourmet meal it was not. There was some bottled water, some granola bars and some cheese.

We slept outside of the town, in some field, it seemed safer than the run down little town where everyone spoke Spanish. I hadn't been to much school and barely knew a word of Spanish, so it was gonna take a miracle for any communication to happen.

The next day, much to the complaining of everyone, the warm sun woke us up. It was _hot_ we had arrived in the evening and it'd been around eighty but now the sun made if feel like ninety. We were all sweating buckets, I was worried about dehydration.

We flew out of that town as quick as we could, trying to make it too a place with air conditioning.

When we were in the air for about an hour, there was suddenly a humming noise. All around us, robots and flying soldiers were coming. They were like a swarm of locusts, how's that for vivid imagery?

"Guys!" I cried, "Get ready!"

We sort of hovered in the air 'cause there was no place to go, they literally surrounded us from all sides. I had no idea how they'd found us. Probably that traitor Ryan.

When the _things_ were just close enough to get us. We all attacked. Total was in a backpack, growling.

I whipped several punches at a robot and it went down. Hard. It made this metal crunching noise. As it fell it took a bunch of other robots with it, that was how many there were.

Fang was swinging punches right and left, he seemed blurred. As each robot fell, another took its place.

I thought that, even if we could fight them off, the robots would bury with their numbers.

Iggy was getting directions from Gazzy as to where to fight, but it wasn't hard. He just had to swing a fist and he would hit something.

Nudge danced around a robot like a little ballerina. She twisted and spun a kick at one's face. Then it hit her nose, making it bleed.

Gazzy, even while directing Iggy, was fighting like the tough little guy he was. He was now fishing for something in his pocket. I hoped it was a bomb.

Even little Angel was trying to help. She flitted in and around the things, faster and lighter than they were, she could avoid their clumsy punches.

Finally, after what was an hour, or a minute, Gazzy shouted "Drop."

Instantly, I stopped flapping my wings and fell like a rock, through metal. It felt like I was sliding over a cheese grater.

I had barely gotten out of the metal cloud when in exploded. The force of the shock wave carried me out, away from the blast. Little pieces of metal shrapnel cut all over my face and hands. I hoped that the others had gotten far enough away in time.

There was a silence in the air and all I could feel my sweat dripping down my face as I fell to the ground. I managed to make my wings work and started to flap around, looking for the others.

One, there was Gazzy, grinning triumphantly at his bomb's work.

Two, Iggy, smiling too with Akila in his backpack.

Three, Nudge her hair in a fluffy cloud, nose still bleeding.

Four, Angel her face pale and tiny.

Five?

Where was Fang?

I couldn't see him anywhere.

"Fang!" I called, my voice seemed really quiet after the explosion.

"Fang?" the others echoed.

Finally, finally, I saw a black shape falling out of the sky.

Five, Fang, heading down fast, carrying a tiny dog, Total.

Six, me trying not to cry in relief.

**AN: is it any good? Review?**


	28. Musings

**Sorry for the wait**

**Please read and review**

**Hope you like this next chapter

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I saw Fang flying down to meet me. He looked tired, but okay. I was glad. I knew that it would be hard to deny my feelings for him anymore.

Fang. He was still my best friend. Still someone I could trust. I didn't ever want a 'mushy' relationship with him. We weren't those types of people. But, maybe, just maybe there could be one thing right in my screwed up life.

As kids get older, they get these things called hormones. Apparently my 2% of bird DNA didn't change any of this. When I was little, I didn't think I would ever change. Now I know I was wrong.

Basically, me, Max, Max who _never_ cries or is emotional is changed by hormones.

Even the toughest people get overwhelmed sometimes.

It annoys the crap out of me. I get furious sometimes. Then I'm happy. Then, I'm in love.

I guess, that sometimes, these things can be good. I can literally change from being Max-in-charge to Max-in-fighting mode in seconds.

I guess that hormones can be good things.

Normally, I'm not this- insightful. Normally, I'm about as insightful as a bird. I see things, and think about them, but only for my survival.

I guess that getting older changes the way you look at things.

Now that we're safer, I'm not always thinking about survival. Just about- I don't know, maybe 95% of the time.

I know that maybe this has to be going on with people like Fang too. With everyone. Making us more independent.

I just hope that we can stay together for longer.

**AN: I know this is a different sort of chapter, did you like it? Hate it? Let me know!!! Review!!**


	29. Books

**Here's the next chapter**

**Sorry everyone had to wait soooooo long**

**Thank you if you've reviewed, but I want to give special thanks to someone- '**_**Wendy**_**' reviewed a nice long review and wrote lot's of complimenting and helpful things about this story- I couldn't thank her since her review was unsigned so I'm thanking her here. Glad you enjoyed the story so much, Wendy.**

**(I'm not trying to not recognize any other people who've reviewed so please don't be offended)

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Somehow, we all managed to stay safe again.

It's ironic really. We get about the suckiest luck in the world when it comes to parents and being – you know- _normal._ But when it comes to surviving, we kick ass. No one dead yet.

I know it's bad to joke about death, because, frankly, we could die at anytime, but you know what they say- laugh in the face of your enemy. (Or something like that.) I've never had a problem with that.

But, off my little 'we are awesome' rant.

We flew (after sleeping) to a new town in the desert of Mexico. Who knew? More desert.

Obviously, the most important thing would be to stay away from the big cities. None of us, except _maybe_ Fang could pass as Hispanic. Definitely not me or Gazzy or Iggy or Angel, blondes tend to stick out when everyone else is a brunette.

And nothing's more conspicuous than six kids with wings and two dogs (one with wings) who walk around in a huge city with people who look nothing like them. Especially when the kids are scruffy and parentless.

So the plan was to stay out of the city.

I still had no idea what we were _doing_ in Mexico. Sure, we were escaping the 'bad guys' but wasn't that what we always did?

I know that we can't run forever. We had to settle down some time, even if only for a week. We needed a vacation in a house. (As opposed to say- a cave or a tree).

I knew that this constant moving was tearing everyone down. Always trying to get away from something that was always coming.

But, I had no idea what was really safe in Mexico.

I was voice-less and guide-less. They should really make books for people like us.

How to be a Bird-Kid- For Dummies.

How to Escape Evil Robots- Quick and Easy.

How to Find a Safe Place to Live- In Ten Easy Steps.

How to Interpret Psychopaths- Cliff Notes Version.

I should become an author.


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